Atrocities

Chapter 8

Shuichi sat outside on the hospital steps as he held his face in his hands. Though he wasn't exactly happy with Kaede, he felt a bit proud of her for defending herself. Maki on the other hand was a ticking time bomb.

Maki paced around Kaito's hospital room, her fists clenched and shaking violently.

"I told her to tell her off, not start a fucking fight with her!" Maki said with pure malice in her tone.

"Well, Nurse Yadashi went to swing at her. What'd you expect her to do?" Kaito said.

"Uh, call the police?" Maki snapped. Out of all the people to get into a fistfight, it had to be sweet and innocent Kaede.

"Look, I know you're angry, but it's not her fault. It's her fight or flight response." Kaito said sitting up.

"Fight or flight my ass! She had two options. Call the cops, or call HR to get her fired. Last time I checked, fighting wasn't any of those options."

Maki sighed and wiped a tear from her tear duct. "Look, I'm sorry I've been like this recently. Things are just getting worse, and I don't know what to do. You have lung cancer, and now Kaede just got arrested.

Kaito smiled. "It's okay, my baby girl. I understand how you feel. It just sucks that Shuichi has to pay a shit ton of money to bail her out now."

Maki nodded and sat in the chair next to Kaito's hospital bed. "And we have to go to court now." She lamented.

Shuichi walked into the hospital room and sighed. "It's not fair!" He said. "I know." Kaito sighed. "But, I'll give you the money to bail her out. Since I work for NASA, I have good pay."

Shuichi sniffled and smiled. "Thank you."

Kaito looked at Maki. "As for you, I will be taking you out."

"What? But your sickness-"

Kaito put a finger over Maki's lip. "Shh, don't worry, baby doll. We'll just take a nice stroll through the park, and then sit and enjoy the feeling of being with each other for all the time we have left on this floating rock we call Earth."

Maki smiled. She didn't want Kaito to leave the hospital because of his sickness but at the same time wanted him to enjoy the time he had with her.

"Okay. I'll ask the receptionist if we can go." Maki kissed Kaito's hand and walked out of the room.

Maki walked over to the front desk and looked at the receptionist. She was tall and had short curly blonde hair with clear glossy olive skin. She looked like an angel sent from heaven, but that wasn't a good thing on Maki's part.

Angels were associated with heaven, and in her eyes seeing a woman who looked like an angel while having a boyfriend with lung cancer didn't seem to slip into her comfort zone.

The receptionist smiled at Maki, the gloss on her lips shining as her green Doe eyes squinted within her beam.

"Hello, Maki. What can I help you with?"

"Hi. I was wondering if I and Kaito could... y'know... go out for a bit?"

The receptionist's grin slowly faded as she looked Maki up and down. "Sorry, honey. But I can't let you do that." She lamented.

Maki looked at the floor. "Why? Cancer isn't contagious."

The receptionist sighed and wrapped one of her curls around her finger. "Yes, that's right, but he needs time to heal, baby. If you want, I could get you a pamphlet of activity ideas. Would you like that?"

Maki sighed but then smiled at the sweet gesture. "No thank you. I'm sure I can find some things for us to do."

She walked back into the room.

"So, what'd she say?" Kaito asked.

Maki sighed. "She said no, but I have a plan."

"Really? What is it, my darling?" Kaito asked with a faint smirk.

"We escape at midnight," Maki said. "We escape, and we go on that date you wanted."

Kaito tilted his head but then guffawed.

"Maki, it's okay if we couldn't do what I wanted, honey." He said.

Maki shook her head, not feeling amused by his reaction. She then walked over to Kaito and caressed his cheek.

"Kaito, I don't care if you have a week or two, or 500 more years to live. If you're gonna stay alive, then might as well make the most of it with me."

Maki's words brought a tear to Kaito's eyes as his halfway-opened mouth closed into a wide smile. "Okay. Tonight we escape."